Back to school time!! How has this happened already?! Anyone else feel like the summer just started? I head back to work in just over one week!

I am so excited that I was able to team up with Oriental Trading to share these amazing resources for my classroom with you!  These manipulatives are linked for you to shop easily and are affiliate links. By you using my links to shop I will earn a small commission from your purchases.

After last year I was disappointed to be see that we didn't have very many hands on materials to help students with their math lessons.  My admin would buy me things I needed, but you know, sometimes you don't realize you need it until you teach the lesson.  Thankfully when I was looking through Oriental Trading I found some PERFECT manipulatives to use!

Check out these fraction circles! I LOVE how big they are and how durable they are. They are going to be great for small group lessons when students are just struggling with understanding the visuals. This will be a great way for students to manipulate the pieces and then physically see it.  I think that these will also be great for students to practice equivalent fractions, since it will be easier for them to see how they are the same size.

I was also able to grab a set of LARGE fraction circles that are magnetic! These will be great to use as visuals on the board in front of the room so students can see what they look like as a whole. I like that these are magnetic because then I don't have to worry about how to get them on my board, and I know that they will last. Also, these will be great for students to be able to come up and manipulate as well.

I am also really excited to use the fraction bingo game as a review game! This will be great to use on Fridays when we have time to practice what we have learned, and loop back and play throughout the school year.  The different visuals will help students find fractions that are similar, and it would be a great game where you can use equivalent fractions too!

I am excited that all three of these are going to be great to have students practice their fractions. It seems that understanding fractions, and then equivalent fractions, is such a hard task for third graders! What do you do to help them understand fractions better?! I would love to hear! Leave a comment, or send me an email so we can all learn how to better help our students!

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Cassandra

Halloween is over, and now you have PILES of candy! Your kids have candy! You have candy left over at home! You have candy that you don't want to eat, so what are you going to do with all of it?! If you're anything like me you want to get rid of it as quickly as possible so you don't eat it all, right?!

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Cassandra

It's crazy to believe that we have already made it through 100 days of school!  To celebrate our 100th day of school we did some fun activities!!

Our 100th day of school falls in the middle of our National Lutheran School's week, and it fell on Field Day this year so we couldn't have them dress up like they were 100, so instead we did many different 100 activities instead!

During math I had four centers set up for my students to work on, and they had 5 minutes to work at each station.  In one center they had to see how tall of a structure they could build, using ALL 100 cups in the 5 minutes.  The groups all did great, and it was interesting to see how they stacked the top to make their structures taller with the same bases!

The second center was working to find 100 ways to make 100.  It was awesome to see the way that they could deconstruct the number, as well as represent it in different ways.  They were able to come up with spelling it, using place value blocks, adding, subtracting, and multiplying.  It was the easiest for the first group because they could write anything, but by the fourth group they had a harder time because we were trying to not have duplicates!  Together, both classes were able to come up with 100 DIFFERENT ways to make 100!!

Next, the students worked on counting coins.  All of the coin amounts were less than 1.  A great way to build on this would be to find how much change they would get from $1 if this was the cost of their item!  It is a great resource that can be adapted to fit the needs of your students!

The last center was a place value center where they had to count the base ten blocks. This is a great skill to practice and can once again be added to in order to make it more challenging.  These math centers can all be found in my 100 Days of School activity pack, which also include some fun writing ideas, prompts and lists to make!

During our writing block they worked on writing what they would buy with $100!  It is amazing the things that they think they can buy with only $100!  I am always amazed at how far kids think $100 can stretch!!  This writing from The Creative Classroom is one of our new favorites, and I love that it comes with a self checking checklist so the kids are becoming more an more aware of what they need to be checking for as they are writing!

Follow Mrs 3rd Grade's board 100th Day of School on Pinterest.

I have pinned a bunch of fun ideas on to my Pinterest board and can't wait to start planing for next year!!

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Cassandra

I can't believe we have LESS than three weeks for Christmas activities before break!  Where oh where is this month going to go!?!

Today I am excited to bring you some great ideas of things to do for math this month!!

I LOVE all of the great things that you can do during December to practice math skills and bring the Christmas magic to life in your classroom!!  One of my favorite things to do in class is to have a snowball fight!  There is no prep required for this, nothing you need to copy or have ready.  

I had my students write a math fact on a sheet of paper.  It could be anything we had learned about, addition, subtraction, and beginning multiplication.  They had to write this in marker so we could tell the problems apart from the answers.  Then they took that sheet of paper and crumbled it into a ball.  On the count of THREE we started throwing the snowballs across the room.  Students then had to grab a snowball, flatten it out and answer the question.  They had to show their work, and write their name to get credit for their team.  I let them play for about 5 - 10 minutes!  Then we went through and quickly checked to see what team had the most points!  It was so much fun, they enjoyed it, and were totally engaged the whole time!

Another fun and easy activity that we do is create these Christmas trees out of scrapbook paper.  I use these scraps left over from our elves that we make earlier in the week.  They have to make their tree using at least six strips of paper.  They then measure their papers to the nearest quarter inch to practice their measurement skills.

One of my other favorite ways to keep students engaged during these busy weeks is with lots of scoot games or task cards.  I love these because they are moving around, going from place to place, and not just sitting in one seat filling out a worksheet.  I typically will put these in centers or taped around the classroom with washi tape.  The students are able to practice many different skills using these tasks cards, and they can be engaging and fun!

There are a lot of great task cards that you can use to keep your students engaged, learning and having fun this month!!  You can check out my snowman set here, my growing multiplication and division bundle, lots of awesome math products on TPT like this awesome freebie by Angie from Lucky Little Learners.

You can find more awesome ideas by these wonderful teachers too!!

An InLinkz Link-up

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Cassandra

I am so excited for these centers that I have prepped and ready to go for the week after Halloween!  I LOVE these activities because it keeps my kids engaged and they get to share their candy.  We have an annual trunk or treat event where our kids go and get candy.  This gets some of the candy out of their house, and keeps them focused during math for the week after Halloween.

I am putting this candy math and science pack on sale for the rest of the month!  This will help you keep your kids engaged and excited for math or science!!  I hope that you enjoy them!

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Cassandra

I am back again this month, linking up with Ashley and Angie to bring you another month of the wonderful #2getherwearebetter linky party!!!  I am SOOOO excited for this month, since it is ALL ABOUT MATH!!!

Math is my FAVORITE subject to teach!!  I was so excited when we split third grade this year, and I got a teaching partner FOR THE FIRST TIME! EVER!!  To make it even better, she agreed to teach the reading side of things so I could teach MATH!!

Do you have a math cupboard like this!?  I am slowly going through this stuff and GETTING rid of it!  I have too much, and too many things that just sit there and aren't getting used!  I know I need to give these to classrooms who will use them!

This is where the magic happens!  Just kidding, but this is the area I use for my small group work area.  I LOVE it because it has plenty of room for about four students to sit with me.  Plus I am able to use the white board right next to the table if I need to.  I can also keep many resources close by so that way I don't have to go looking for things.

Now on to the good stuff!  Keeping your students engaged!!  One of my favorite ways to do this is by having them write on their desks or the tables!  This keeps them excited about what they are doing, and keeps them motivated to work hard.  We talk about how it is a tool, and using the expo markers aren't for doodling, drawing or playing.  They know that it is a privilege to write on their desks, and that they won't be able to write on their desks if they can't use the tools correctly.  I make sure to use a color that they aren't using, and I use them as my marker to go around and make corrections, offer suggestions, or mark correct answers.  By doing this it helps me to know what problems they are working on, and where they are.

Another way I keep my students engaged is by getting them UP and MOVING!!  I don't have them stay in one place for too long so that way their bodies are moving.  My students are ACTIVE, and they need the movement.  By doing this I don't have to take as many brain breaks during math either, since they are moving around the classroom and getting their wiggles out working on partner work, games or small group activities.

Another way to keep my students engaged is to have them play partner games!  This way they can keep each other accountable, practice their skills, and have fun at the same time.  This is a center they go to every week, most of the time twice a week.  I mix up who they are going to the center with as well so that they are working with other students in different ability ranges and they can go from being the teacher, to the student, to the competition.  I also join in playing games with my kids to keep them on their toes.  On the days I say I am going to join the games they actually don't pick a partner, or hope that they are paired with me! I love this because it not only helps me continue to assess the students, but also helps build that relationship!

I LOVE to get my students working together!  On the 100th day of school last year we came up with 100 ways to write 100!!!  It was so fun, the kids loved racing up to the board to add their post it notes to the board.  I love finding ways to do things like this so that way they work together, and are pushed to think outside the box.

I blogged in August about other ways I keep my students engaged, hands on and worksheet free!  You can check it out here!!

Don't forget to check out my amazing linky hosts Angie and Ashley!!

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Cassandra

How can we be in our SIXTH FULL week of school already!?!  This year is flying by!!  I can't believe that we have standardized testing in TWO weeks, and fall break in THREE weeks!!  Bring on the cooler weather!

I am linking up with Dee Dee Wills to bring you a peek at my week!

I love working on my plans like this every week!  It helps me know what I am working on, as well as what centers I need!  You can download my lesson plans by clicking on them!  Then this will give you a PDF with CLICKABLE links to the products I'm using!

Friday we are going on our first field trip of the year, and it is a WHOLE SCHOOL field trip!  Our PE teacher teaches the whole school how to bowl during the month of August and September since it is too hot to go outside for PE.  The kids LOVE it because then we get to go to a bowling alley and they show off what they've learned!

We have our chapel presentation next week, so we are working hard on our chapel skit and presentation this week!  We are presenting Noah's Ark, so it will be a lot of fun!  I can't wait to share pictures with you!!

I am LOVING having different task cards for my students to work on to help them practice skills we are working on.  I am also loving that we are using our notebooks to dive deeper into skills we are mastering, such as our clock unit!  We are almost done with Angie's amazing unit!!

We are almost done with our science unit, and thanks to this amazing fossil unit by The Blessed Teacher my kids are going to have a GREAT time working on making their own fossils this week!!

I pray that you have a great week!!

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Cassandra

Good morning friends!!  Happy Friday!!  I don't know about you, but this has been a long week for me!  I have been up way later than I should have been a few nights this week!  I am linking up today with Doodle Bugs Teaching for my Five for Friday.

It's been a hands on week!!  I am LOVING our science unit we are working on!  To help cement the difference in rocks this week we ATE some rocks!

A photo posted by Mrs. 3rd Grade (@mrs3rdgrade) on Sep 17, 2015 at 10:16pm PDT

This week I was able to meet some of my amazing FRIENDS for dinner!!  These girls are AMAZING!  Do you recognize all of them!?!  Becca, Miss Giraffe, Janae, The Sharpened Pencil and Ashlyn, The Creative Classroom!  AMAZING!!

I shared all about my math time here.   I have been asked more about Bump so I am working on another post, and possibly working on a Periscope all about it!

A photo posted by Mrs. 3rd Grade (@mrs3rdgrade) on Sep 14, 2015 at 10:14pm PDT

Wednesday night I was able to attend an awesome concert!!  David Crowder is one of my favorite artists, and he was touring again!!  LOVED every moment!!

I'll gladly go to this front porch any day!! Thank you @crowdermusic for an amazing night! #positivehitstour #GODisGOOD #teachersofinstagram

A photo posted by Mrs. 3rd Grade (@mrs3rdgrade) on Sep 16, 2015 at 10:52pm PDT

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Cassandra

Learning math comes easily to students, or it is something that they struggle with.  This can be said for every subject, and it is something that we try and talk about so that way they know that they can get better at things that before they believed they weren't good at.

Math has always been my FAVORITE subject and comes easily to me.  Over the years I have worked with students who have struggled with math and couldn't understand what we were learning about.  Luckily I have been able to find ways to bring fun to math for my students!

Dice games are some of my favorite, and Kim Sutton has AMAZING games in her books!  I have been blessed to attend TWO of her workshops!! I would go every year if I could, because I always pick up new information!  Beam Me Up 10 is a great one because it forces students to work on their sums of 10.  I have a TON of dice in my classroom!  These ten sided dice are PERFECT for place value!!  My students love playing with them too, because they are new to them.  Plus they are great for expanded form.

These place value cards are another great Kim Sutton activity I picked up!!  They have been perfect for so many things.  I have been working with students on knowing the difference between even and odd, the ones, tens, and hundreds places, as well as ordering numbers.  Having students build numbers is a great way to see what they already know, and what they need help with.

We have been LOVING playing Bump games!!  These are an easy, no prep game where all you need are dice and marking chips.  Last year I didn't have these plastic pieces, so we colored paper and used cut up pieces of paper!  I have been having students practice their multiplication facts, even though they don't realize they are doing that.  They roll two dice, find the sum, and then use the counting rule on the board they have.  I have created boards for counting rules 2 through 10!!  I love that they have this opportunity to practice!

What is your favorite activity to help students understand math concepts!?!  What else would you like to see more of?!

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Cassandra

I am linking up this morning with Doodle Bugs Teaching to bring you my Five for Friday!

I am SOOO thankful for AMAZING Arizona blogging friends that I have made!!  Do you recognize these two!?!  LOVE them both!!

So thankful for amazing friends here in AZ who share the same passion as I do!! @theblessedteacher @learninginwonderland you ladies are AMAZING!! #teachersfollowteachers #teachersofinstagram #AZontheRise #iteachthird

A photo posted by Mrs. 3rd Grade (@mrs3rdgrade) on Sep 7, 2015 at 2:32pm PDT

I am not a person who loves worksheets.  I just don't like them.  To battle this I have been finding ways for my students to practice their skills without realizing they are working and without standing in front of the copy machine!  I introduced the game BUMP this week, and my students LOVED it!!

I have been in Target a few times this week checking out the back to school SALE section!!  If you haven't been there yet, RUN!!  I grabbed pencils for $1.67, folders for 5 cents, spiral notebooks for 5 cents, post it notes for 30 cents and MORE!!  I love buying now for school NEXT year!!  Plus, check out this amazing section for Halloween, and this ISN'T the Dollar Spot!!

I posted this last week on my IG, but I don't think that Krista could have said it any better!?  Why is it that short weeks always feel like long weeks?!

A photo posted by Mrs. 3rd Grade (@mrs3rdgrade) on Sep 4, 2015 at 11:19am PDT

I was working Wednesday night and this song came on my Pandora station!  I had to quickly go find it and add it to my list to share!!  I LOVE this song and it spoke to my hear this week!

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Cassandra

I am excited to be bringing you my Five for Friday this afternoon from my couch!!  We had PD today and were released at 2:00!!  Now I am sitting on my couch at home, catching up on my DVR, and enjoying some quiet time!!  My hubby took my son out for a daddy son date, and my daughter is having some special time with grandma!!

This week I kicked off my 30 Amazing Teachers!!  Did you check out Crystal's post!?!  She is AMAZING!!  I am so blessed to call her a friend, and so lucky that I was able to meet her this summer!!

Last Saturday I went and saw Wicked with a friend!!  It was AMAZING!!  My babies were great watching toons together in the morning when I got ready since daddy was sick!  Then when I got home, my son spent the night with grandma and my mini me and I went out on a date!!  It was so fun!!  We went to dinner, and then shopping at Target!!  They had a great deal on toddler shoes!!  This girl has more shoes than I do!!

Do you let your students write on your small group table!?!  This week I blew their mind when I told them we were going to WRITE ON THE TABLE!!  They were so excited!!  I love doing this so that way they can show me their work, not play with the white board, not waste paper, and I can quickly assess!!

I finally revealed my classroom this week!!  We have been in school for almost a month now!!  Ashley and Angie are amazing for hosting the #2getherwearebetter monthly link ups!!  You can check out my classroom here!!

I LOVE this song!!!!  I hope that you enjoy it too!!

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Cassandra